1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a truck lid hinge and opener system and more particularly to a system which places less stress on the hinges and which automatically raises the lid when the latch is unlocked.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many types of lids or covers have been previously provided for covering the bed of a pickup truck. The lids are normally hingedly secured to the forward end of the truck bed and in most cases, the mounting of the hinges requires drilling of holes into the truck bed. Normally, the lid cannot be quickly and easily removed from the bed of the truck without disassembling the hinge connection between the truck bed and the lid. Further, many types of available lids place undue stress on the hinge connection which sometimes results in failure thereof. Another drawback to certain of the available truck lids is that they must be manually raised to their open position. In some cases, gas springs have been utilized to assist in raising the truck lids to their open positions, but temperature conditions have a dramatic affect on the efficiency of the gas springs. Yet another disadvantage of certain of the prior art truck lid opening systems is that they do not prevent xe2x80x9cfree-fallxe2x80x9d of the lid when the lid is being moved from its open position to its closed position.
A truck lid hinge and opener system is disclosed for removably connecting a lid or cover to the bed of a truck wherein the bed includes a vertical front wall, first and second vertical side walls extending rearwardly from the front wail, and a tailgate at the rearward end of the bed with the side walls having downwardly extending flanges at the upper end thereof. The hinge system of the invention includes a pair of like hinge units. Each of the hinge units comprises a mounting plate which is clamped onto one of the truck bed vertical flanges adjacent the forward end thereof with the mounting plate including a first hinge plate portion which extends forwardly over the upper end of the vertical front wall of the truck bed. The first hinge plate portion has a forward end which is positioned forwardly of the vertical front wall of the truck bed with the forward end of the first hinge plate portion having an elongated slot formed therein which is parallel to the front wall of the bed. A second hinge plate portion is secured to the lid at the forward end thereof with the second hinge plate portion having an arcuate connector element extending therefrom which is removably hingedly received by the slot in the forward end of the first hinge plate portion to hingedly connect the lid to the truck bed.
The opener system comprises an opening mechanism at each side of the lid rearwardly of the hinge units. Each of the opener mechanisms comprises a lower arm having its lower end pivotally connected to a mounting plate which is clamped onto the flange of one of the side walls of the bed. An upper arm is pivotally connected at its lower end to the upper end of the lower arm and has its upper end pivotally connected to a bracket which is secured to the underside of the lid. A gas spring has its base end pivotally connected to the upper arm adjacent the upper end thereof and has its rod end selectively adjustably secured to the lower arm intermediate the length thereof.
A locking pawl is rotatably mounted in the lid and has a lower end positioned below the lid. A pair of spring-loaded locking rods are rotatably secured to the lower end of the locking pawl with the rods extending to the opposite sides of the lid with the locking lids being resiliently urged outwardly to the sides of the lid. Each of the lift mechanisms includes a striker plate which is mounted on the lower bracket which engages the outer end of the associated locking rod, as the lid is moved downwardly to its closed position, until the outer end of the locking rod passes beneath the lower end of the striker plate at which time the locking rod moves outwardly beneath the lower end of the striker plate to lock the lid in position. When the locking pawl is rotated to move the outer ends of the locking rods from beneath the striker plates, the gas springs automatically move the lid to its open position.
It is therefore a principal object of the invention to provide an improved hinge and lift assembly for hingedly mounting a lid to the bed of a truck.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a hinge and lift assembly of the type described wherein the lid automatically rises to its open position once the latch is unlocked.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a hinge and lift assembly of the type described which provides resistance when closing the lid to prevent free-fall thereof.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a hinge and lift assembly of the type described which places less stress on the hinges thereof.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a hinge and lift assembly for hingedly mounting a lid to the bed of a truck wherein better side-to-side stability is provided.
Still another object of the invention is to provide adjustable gas springs or shocks for a truck bed lid for various weather conditions.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a hinge and lift assembly for hingedly mounting a lid to the bed of a truck wherein the lift assemblies are attached towards the rear of the vehicle, thus eliminating buckling during hot weather.
These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.